Fig. 8: Schematic representation of CASC4 biological functions along the secretory pathway.

Depicted are full-length CASC4-WT in the early secretory pathway interfering with the Rho GTPase Cdc42-GTP activation. The decrease in Cdc42 activation results in increased paxillin-positive staining focal adhesions which slows down migration (left panel). The dual roles for CASC4-5REL functions are depicted as the protein remain full-length (CASC4-WT) in the early secretory pathway, but is shed trafficking along the secretory pathway which generates membrane-bound N-terminal domain (NTD), which induces the formation of podosome-like structures (right panel) and increases migration, which results in an intermediate migratory phenotype.